


Homecoming

by actionkat



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Bisexual Steve Rogers, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Missing Scene, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre Post-Credits Scene, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 12:44:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6855202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actionkat/pseuds/actionkat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After fighting side by side against Tony Stark at the Siberian Hydra base, Steve and Bucky find a place to lay low for the night to get some sleep. The break in the action and absence of immediate danger opens the door for them to discuss some lingering topics that have gone unspoken since they were reunited.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecoming

Steve was careful to keep his footing as he stumbled to open the motel room door with Bucky leaning against him. The fight had been hard on them both physically and mentally; bloody and beaten they had left, leaving Tony in the same condition on the floor. No one would be relishing in glory over this battle, they had both lost that day. They had fallen as the heroes they viewed themselves as, and the Avengers would never be the same, not for them at least. The only thing Steve had won that day was Bucky's life - at least for the time being. For which he was glad.

He felt Bucky finch as they made their way into the room. "You okay, Buck?" He asked, helping his friend sit down on the queen sized bed, taking the moment to let his eyes really look at the other man. Who currently looked like the definition of defeated, his eyes had dark circles under them, his body like a dead weight on the mattress as Steve released him.

Bucky grunted, pushing his matted and dirty hair away from his face, only glancing at Steve before turning his attention to the floor. "I told you I wasn't worth this. You should have just let them take me."

Steve blinked, sitting down with his friend and joining him in admiring the cheap motel carpet. They were silent. Grateful for every moment that they got to be in the same room together again, just enjoying the presence of the other, unsure of what needed to be said. Bringing his hand up, Steve set it on Bucky's good shoulder, making the other man finally look up at him. "You are always worth it. I chose you, Bucky, over everyone else. How could you tell me I made the wrong choice?"

"With Hydra still in my head, I don't even know who I am anymore, Steve. I can't control myself. You chose me over your friends, your team, why?"

A sense of anger welled inside him, how could his motives still be questioned after all of this? Steve turned his body to face his friend full on, ready to make himself as clear as needed to get his point across. "Because I do know who you are." He paused; refusing to let Bucky break the eye or physical contact they currently shared. "You are James Buchanan Barnes. You are my best pal. You are a soldier. You are so many things, Buck, and all of them are worth the risk for you to remember them. Along the way you'll become new things too, but you'll always be my friend. I'll always drag you out of the water, because you'll do the same for me. Compromised brain or not, I'm with you until the end of the line. Remember?" 

He felt Bucky quiver under his hand as he ducked his head again. His breath coming out if uneven puffs, whether it was due to pain or not, he couldn't tell. "Even when I have nothing, here you are."

"You were always there for me. When I had nothing, I had you. It goes both ways." He trailed off, rubbing his hand slightly on Bucky's back before standing up and walking to the bathroom, he grabbed a couple of washcloths. The sink squeaked as he turned the warm water on, waiting for it to heat to a tolerable temperature before dampening the cloths and going back over to Bucky, sitting next to him again. "I missed you. I looked for you, Sam too, for two years."

"I know." Bucky said, brushing his hair back again, allowing Steve to dab the wet cloth over his bloody and bruised face. He left the rest unsaid; there wasn't enough time in the night to explain it all with words, all the pain and regret. The look in Steve's eyes told him all he needed to know. "I missed you too." He added, closing his eyes as the cloth was dabbed in the corner of one.

The room was filled with a still silence as Steve finished washing Bucky's face of the dried dirt and blood, the only noise being the muted sound of a news station coming from the room next to theirs. Steve was reminded of a similar situation back when they were young and living together in that dank little apartment. How he had come back home with a broken nose and split lip, and how Bucky had near thrown the dame he was entertaining out the door the moment he saw the blood. They had sat on the couch, radio still playing a baseball game in the background, as Bucky cleaned his wounds and demanded to know who had done this so he could go 'knock their lights out'. Steve gave a soft smile at the memory. Times had changed since then; in more ways than one, and he didn't just mean the decade.

"Want me..."

He looked up at Bucky, who had picked up the second cloth and was gesturing at Steve's own bloodied face. "Oh, yeah. Thanks."

Bucky slowly lifted his shaky arm up to wipe at the open wounds on his friend. Hearing Steve let out a breath, he pulled his hand away. "Did that hurt?"

"No," Steve shook his head. "I just was thinking about how many times you've done this for me before."

He let the corner of his mouth crook into a smile, wiping away a spot of dark grime in the corner of his friend's lips. "Clean up your mess after you get yourself into more than you can handle? This is the first time I've ever been the mess that caused it though."

Steve grabbed Bucky's hand, their eyes met as he stopped the motion. "Bucky," he sighed. "You aren't a mess. What do I have to do to prove that you mean more to me than anyone? I would risk everything for you. I have risked everything for you." He let Bucky's hand go, still maintaining tense eye contact with the silent man as he reached over and brushed a stray lock of long dark hair from his face. "And you know what? I'd do it a hundred more times if it kept you alive."

He barely had a chance to finish his sentence before a pair of warm dry lips captured his own, Steve was frozen in place, the kiss was soft and startling. He could smell the tang of blood that still clung to their skin, as well as the musky scent of the man in front of him that he had grown to know as home. The seconds of wet warmth was suddenly removed from his mouth with a gasp as Bucky pulled away as if he had been burned.

"I'm sorry. I just. That was impulsive. You're probably... I'm sorry. I'll leave, I'll just, go." Bucky breathed out, looking at Steve with wide eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-" His sentence was cut off as Steve leaned in, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him in for a reciprocated kiss. Their mouths mingled in a spiral of warmth, wet and hard as hands came up to grip onto each other. Steve moved his hand from Bucky's neck to his hair, grabbing a fistful and tangling his fingers in it. Bucky's hand started cautiously against Steve's chest, feeling the proof of reality as his friend's heart beat under his palm. 

They only broke the connection when both were desperate to breathe, their breath coming out in soft puffs as they rested their foreheads together. "I thought you and Sharon were..." Bucky started, unsure how to finish what he thought before, his thoughts now only consisting of wanting Steve's slightly swollen, pink lips back on his.

"No."

Bucky smiled. "Okay."

"So, can I kiss you again?" Steve asked, unable to tear his eyes from the other man's lips, who he barely saw nod before they both resumed the kiss. Unlike before, both were unafraid of rejection as their lips met, a feeling that could only be described as lightening spread throughout their bodies. It wasn't the first time they had kissed, or even the first time their feelings had been discussed, but that had been so long ago now that it could barely be considered a recent memory. Bucky recalled the first time when he was seventeen years old. Steve had told him that he should stop bothering to set up double dates because the dames never liked him anyway, little did he know that Bucky purposely chose dames that he knew his friend wouldn't take too, Bucky told him that he would set them up anyway because he liked spending the time with him. He smiled against Steve's mouth as he remembered the reply his friend had given him all those years ago, 'Well, Buck, if that's the case, we can go out dancing just us. We don't need dames to go out together.'

"Excited there, Buck?"

Bucky was pulled out of his thoughts as Steve murmured against his mouth, realizing he had essentially pushed the other man over in the bed with the weight of his body on him. "Sorry." He said, straightening his posture up.

Steve trailed his fingers against his jaw. "Don't be sorry, I'm excited too. You're just pretty hurt after today, so am I, and we could really use some sleep."

He nodded ducking his head in Steve's shoulder. "Always the responsible one."

They stood and began to take unnecessary layers of clothing off for bed. Steve stripping from his uniform leaving only a pair of boxers underneath, before stepping over to help when he saw Bucky struggling to remove his many layers with only one arm. The two slipped into the cheap sheets of the motel bed, laying on their sides, refusing to look away from each other.

"I'm dangerous." Bucky stated. "You know that, you saw what can happen when the things that Hydra put in my brain is activated."

"We'll find a way to get it out,"

He gave a tight nod, not quite as hopeful, nestling his head in the pillow, Steve's face so close that he could feel the other man's breath on his cheek.

Steve continued. "Until we find a way, I'll protect you."

"What if I'm not the one who needs protecting? What if I'm responsible for more deaths?"

"Then I'm still with you 'til the end of the line."

Bucky pushed his face closer to Steve, tipping his head and capturing his face in yet another kiss, he traced Steve's lip with his tongue, forcing them to deepen the kiss. He needed to feel the connection, to know that it was real. Steve could feel the rough scratch of Bucky's stubble as they pressed close, explored each other mouths in a lingering mix of teeth and tongues, in a rough yet synchronized dance that explored every corner of the other's mouth, making up for every lost second that they missed together. Bucky felt Steve's tongue trace along his molars, tasting the metallic residue of blood in their mingled saliva. They barely pulled apart, a thread still connecting their wet mouths together.

"Goodnight, Buck." Steve said, leaving one last soft, caring kiss on the side of his lips as he turned out the bedside light and scooted his body closer to the other man.

Bucky watched him as the light faded away, he knew that this wouldn't last forever, and he didn't know when he would be forced away from Steve again, but he knew that he would. Whether it happened tomorrow, in a few months, in a few years, if it would be his choice, or someone else's, it would happen. But until that day, Bucky was going to savor every second he had with his friend. He had come to terms with how dangerous he was with this perpetual Winter Soldier system in his head that was ready to fight for anyone with the right words a long time ago, and he knew it wouldn't be long before he had to make a decision about that knowledge. He curled into Steve's side, pressing their bodies together. "Goodnight." He paused before adding, "I'm with you 'til the end of the line. Always."

With those final words, even with the unknown ahead, they fell into the best sleep either of them had been able to get in decades, wrapped in each other's arms.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a lot of fun to write! I hope you enjoyed it, I haven't written Stucky in a while.


End file.
